Transbay Block 6 Tower Tallest LEED-H

“Designed to achieve U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) Gold certification, the project will create more than 2,500 green jobs and $490 million in economic activity for San Francisco.”

Press Release Oct. 2013

LEED-H Project Summary:

Transbay Block 6 Tower under construction

Golub Real Estate is developing the 32-story high-rise residential tower at 299 Fremont Street, SF. In the heart of the Transbay Transit Center, this project brings much needed housing options in an area that the City is focusing attention for mixed-use and transit-oriented developments. The project is targeting LEED Gold certification. It is the first “high-rise” to be allowed to use the LEED for Homes Mid-Rise Rating System, and many people are watching to see if LEED for Homes will be the new defacto Rating System applied to high-rise residential towers.

LEED-H Process:

Healthy Building Science performed a feasibility study and worked closely with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and LEED Provider to determine if this project would be eligible for the LEED for Homes Mid-Rise Rating System. After much consideration, the USGBC granted us permission to use Block 6 as a trial run. It’s the first high-rise tower to utilize the LEED “Mid-Rise” system, and it’s been an interesting project because we’re in the middle of the Rater, Provider and USGBC on many discussions regarding how to apply mid-rise credit requirements to a 32-story tower.

HBS worked with the owner and design/build team to identify which LEED-H credits to pursue. HBS provided drawing and specification review comments to ensure that LEED goals were included in the Construction Documents. HBS provided a kick-off meeting with the builder to ensure all credit tracking would occur as required by the USGBC. We continue to meet with the team regularly to ensure that everything is on track for Gold certification. The project is presently under construction.